Mesmerised by the Alpha

Chapter 34 -Fractures in the Bond

Theo's POV

The meeting room was already tense when I arrived.

Five elders sat around the long oak table, the room smelling faintly of aged whisky, worn leather, and unease. Maps were strewn across the surface—territories marked in red and black ink, some completely crossed out. It wasn’t just our land anymore—it was our people. Entire packs, snuffed out like candles.

I took the head seat, nodding once in greeting.

“We’re not going to waste time,” said Elias, the oldest of them, his knuckles pale against his cane. “There’s been another attack. This one near the Northern Highlands. An entire pack—wiped out. Only two survivors, both barely clinging to life.”

I stiffened. “Was it vampires?”

“Partially,” said another elder, Rina, her grey eyes sharp behind her glasses. “But they’re not the main threat. It’s the weapons they’ve started using.”

She handed me a photo—grainy and blood-splattered. A strange-looking dart lodged in a dead wolf’s side. I leaned in.

“They carry some kind of toxin,” Elias explained. “We think it suppresses the shift. Locks the wolf out. We’ve seen it before, in theory. Never this refined. It’s military-grade now.”

“And Ezra?” I asked, the name sharp on my tongue.

“He was spotted at the scene,” Rina confirmed. “Just a shadow on the tree line. But one of our scouts swears it was him. We think he’s coordinating the attacks—or at least supporting them.”

I rubbed my temple. Ezra wasn’t just a vampire leader—he was cunning, manipulative. Dangerous even by their standards. But if he’d allied with the hunters...

“Kidnappings are escalating,” Elias added. “We have six confirmed abductions this past fortnight. From isolated packs. They’re targeting the young and the strong. We believe they’re experimenting—same M.O. as those torture reports you sent us last month.”

My stomach twisted. Ava.

“What do they want with them?” I muttered. “What could they possibly gain from experimenting on us?”

“We think they’re trying to find ways to suppress the bond,” said Rina. “To control or break it. Some even speculate they want to use wolves as weapons.”

The silence in the room deepened.

“This isn’t just about the supernatural,” Elias said. “This is strategic. They’re studying us. Weakening us. Turning us against each other.”

“They’re afraid,” I said. “Afraid of what we could become if we were united.”

“Exactly,” said Elias, tapping the table. “Which is why we need answers, Theo. Real intel. Not just shadows and stories. If your contacts inside St. Amstein can’t get word out, then you’ll need to go in yourself. Soon.”

I hesitated. “It’s not that simple. The hotel’s compromised. Something’s interfering with mindlinks—we don’t even know if the wolves inside can access their full abilities anymore. I have a Luna in there. I can’t put her in more danger.”

Rina folded her arms. “Your Luna may be the reason we have a shot at ending this.”

I held her gaze. “Or she could become the next one they take.”

The elders didn’t argue. They knew better than to question the bond between mates.

Elias softened his tone. “We don’t have the numbers we used to. We’re being picked off, pack by pack. This isn’t a war we can afford to lose slowly.”

I nodded grimly. “Understood.”

That was when the call came in.

Ava. Found. In the infirmary.

I didn’t wait for the rest of the message. I tore from the room, shifting into my wolf the second I was outside, fur erupting across my skin mid-stride. My beta followed not far behind, his paws pounding the earth in rhythm with mine as we hurtled through the woods towards the infirmary.

She was alive.

That one thought kept my body moving like fire was in my blood.

When we arrived, the scene inside the infirmary was chaos. Nurses, warriors, and pack doctors darted between rooms, their faces tight with urgency and confusion. My wolf paced until I forced the shift back, my clothes gone, replaced by the spare set I kept stashed near the entrance for emergencies.

Albert, our lead medic, was the first to see me. His face was pale, jaw tight. He crossed the hallway in a few long strides and dipped his head.

“Alpha.”

I gripped his shoulder. “What can you tell me, Albert? How is she?”

He let out a heavy sigh, eyes flicking towards the curtained-off room behind him. “It’s… difficult. We’ve never seen anything quite like this.”

“Go on,” I said, already bracing myself.

“She’s been injured—nothing that would normally worry us. An injured leg, some mangled tissue around the ear, broken ribs, superficial cuts. But the real concern is that she can’t shift back.”

My blood ran cold.

“She’s stuck in her wolf form. We can’t reach her through the link either. It's like she’s trapped inside her own mind. Her healing is sluggish—like something’s been introduced into her system, something foreign. We’re running tests now.”

My fists clenched at my sides. “Torture?”

Albert nodded solemnly. “We suspect hunters. It's consistent with their M.O.—psychological destabilisation, chemical interference. The kind of thing that breaks the bond between wolf and human.”

A snarl tore from my throat, low and guttural. I barely kept myself from shifting again.

I ran a hand over my jaw. “What about her scent—does it tell us anything?”

“She smells… wrong,” he admitted. “Like she’s been somewhere sterile, chemical. There’s barely any forest on her. She was kept indoors. Controlled. Drugged.”

“Where was she found?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“In the forest, just beyond the perimeter. One of our warriors spotted her curled beneath a thicket. She collapsed as soon as she knew she was safe.”

I exhaled sharply, rage and helplessness churning in my gut. What the hell had they done to her?

Albert led me down the hallway, and when he pulled back the curtain, my heart shattered.

There she was. Not Ava as I knew her—laughing, snarky, brave—but her wolf form, curled and shaking on the bed. Her white-and-brown fur was patchy, matted with dried blood. Wires and tubes snaked from her frail body. Machines beeped rhythmically, as though mocking the natural strength she once possessed.

I stepped closer, crouching at the edge of the bed. Her wolf didn’t even lift her head.

“I’ll personally oversee her care,” Albert said behind me. “We’re doing everything we can.”

I nodded. “Good. Keep me updated.”

As we left, my beta trailing quietly beside me, I issued the command through our private link: All missions at the St. Amstein hotel are to cease. Effective immediately. No one goes in or out without my say-so.

If hunters were involved in this—if they were experimenting on my pack—then the stakes were higher than ever. I couldn’t afford another Ava.

And worse… my contacts inside the hotel had gone dark. Something was blocking mindlinks. Had they been discovered? Were they hurt?

The only one I could still trust to some degree was Dana. She was inside. She was clever. Careful. But even she hadn’t been as communicative as usual.

I needed answers.

I pulled out my phone and crafted a message, one that I hoped only she would understand:

Hey Dana, no need to worry now. Nora turned up in the end, she just forgot her curfew. I think I overdid it with her punishment and she’s no longer talking to me! I was thinking you could bring her one of your famous cherry pies tomorrow? Maybe she’ll open up to you? Let me know. – Theo.

If anyone could help from inside, it was Dana. Cherry pie—our code for a quiet meeting. I needed answers. Desperately.

Her response came fast.

You’re a great big-brother, Theo. You only want what’s best for her. I can bring the pie tomorrow, if you want to meet at the café? 9am? Stay strong – Dana.

I exhaled, tension bleeding from my shoulders. She understood.

9am – see you then, I replied.

Tomorrow, I’d learn everything she knew—what was happening inside that hotel, who could be trusted, what threats remained.

But tonight?

I was going home to my brother and sister. To the only family I had left outside of the pack. I needed the reminder of who we were before the war began.

Because make no mistake—this was war now.

And wolves? We don’t run from it.